Lumia 800

Nokia is betting big that the Lumia 800 (and its other Windows Phone devices in the pipeline) will appeal to consumers who want a high-end smartphone. It will offer the device in three colors: cyan, magenta and black.??Ã­

Following months of speculation, Nokia unveiled its first two smartphones running Windows Phone software: the high-end Lumia 800 and lower-cost Lumia 710. Considering how Nokia abandoned its homegrown smartphone operating systems in order to embrace Microsoft's offering, the risks couldn't be higher for the Finnish phone maker. If it succeeds, Nokia could regain some of the initiative against high-end competitors such as Google Android and Apple's iPhone. If it fails, the company has precious little recourse. "Lumia is the first real Windows Phone, Nokia CEO Stephen Elop told the audience during a London keynote Oct. 26. "We are signaling our intent right now to be today's leaders in smartphone design and craftsmanship, no question about it. In New York City, Nokia representatives offered eWEEK and other media outlets a quick hands-on with the two devices, which are expected to arrive in the United States in early 2012 at an undefined price point. (In Europe, the Lumia 800 will sell for the equivalent of approximately $584, while the Lumia 710 will sell for $376.) Nokia is also including some exclusive applications with its phones, including Nokia Drive and Nokia Maps. In terms of (brief) first impressions, the Lumia 800 manages to feel light in the hand without feeling cheap, and the Lumia 710 feels similarly well-built. Whether that proves enough to take on Android and iOS, particularly in combination with the newly updated Windows Phone, is a question that Nokia would desperately like answered in the affirmative.

Nicholas Kolakowski is a staff editor at eWEEK, covering Microsoft and other companies in the enterprise space, as well as evolving technology such as tablet PCs. His work has appeared in The Washington Post, Playboy, WebMD, AARP the Magazine, AutoWeek, Washington City Paper, Trader Monthly, and Private Air. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.